Forum for Science, Industry and Business

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

EMBL at a glance

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) was established in 1974 and is supported by sixteen countries including nearly all of Western Europe and Israel. EMBL consists of five facilities: the main Laboratory in Heidelberg (Germany), Outstations in Hamburg (Germany), Grenoble (France) and Hinxton (U. K.), and an external Research Programme in Monterotondo (Italy).

EMBL was founded with a four-fold mission: to conduct basic research in molecular biology, to provide essential services to scientists in its Member States, to provide high-level training to its staff, students, and visitors, and to develop new instrumentation for biological research. Over its 25-year history, the Laboratory has had a deep impact on European science in all of these areas. EMBL has achieved so much because it is a truly international, European institution, because it has achieved a critical mass of services and facilities which are driven by cutting-edge biological research, and because it regards education – at all levels – as a way of life.

The Laboratory has a number of unique features. Its Outstations provide European biologists access to large instruments for the study of protein structures, some of the world´s oldest and biggest databases of DNA and protein sequences, and a host of services operated by highly-trained biologists who are simultaneously involved in their own research. The Outstations are optimally located on campuses which foster links to a much larger network of European science – neighbors including the Sanger Centre and the Welcome Trust, DESY, the ESRF and the ILL, EMMA, and a host of academic and industrial partners.

EMBL is designed as a way-station, not only for the large numbers of visitors and students, but also for its own staff. Nearly all of EMBL´s scientific and administrative personnel will one day leave the institution, usually to a destination in a Member State, and when they do, they carry along a unique combination of experience and skills. The scientific networks created by EMBL alumni have contributed heavily to the development of a truly international scientific community throughout Europe.